Compassion & Love for Self

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” ~ Dalai Lama XIV, The Art of Happiness

When truthfully examined, it is profound how little any one of us individually has esteem and self-love. Granted, we need to account for our assimilation into current reality, yet even still most of us are incredibly hard on ourselves. We are often the first to find fault with even the slightest of mistakes and drive ourselves perpetually forward with little or no celebration of our abilities and accomplishments.

Hands-on Experiment (Five minutes): For the next few minutes, I want you to focus on what you love about yourself. I want you to think about these thoughts so intently that they drawn out the any other thoughts previously swirling in your head. I want you to focus on what makes you unique, what your gifts and talents are and the ways you enrich the lives of others. I want you to mentally look upon yourself and into your own eyes – face-to-face and eyeball-to-eyeball, I want you to say “I love you!” repeatedly until you get the biggest smile on your face you’ve had in a while. Now envision the greatest possible outcome for yourself. Using your senses, take mental note of what this looks, feels, sounds and smells like?

Now how do you feel? It is quite possible your heart rate has changed – increasing or decreasing dependent on your original state of being. It is likely your brain chemistry, while not visually measurable, even still has been altered. Your physical appear has shifted. Without question, your energetic vibration has been altered. All of these shifts are very positive and need only be nurtured to continue to replace the negative.

What is also profound to me is the judgment one receives when they attain some level of esteem and self-love, often called cocky or heady. Why is that? Perhaps it is the mirror this individual shows to others – a reflection of self that needs to be examined and healed or reconciled. Perhaps it is because this esteem and self-love doesn’t align with the collective “un”consciousness it results in an instinctual fear because it is simply unique and unknown. Regardless of the reason, it is a critical maturation process humanity will have to sort out in order to continue its evolution towards Source. For in fact, we are Spirit Beings. As beautifully written by Albert Einstein, we are the universe experiencing itself in a finite way bound temporarily by space and time. Nevertheless, we are creating our reality. However, even as probable as a life of spectacle and wonder may be, it will not manifest if you are underestimating the key ingredient – which is you of course!

Looking back at your experiences being judgmental and harsh with self, do you find it was productive? Is having little esteem and little self-love resulting in your desired outcome? For most, including myself, I would say the answer is no. So why not try the esteemed-self and loved-self approach? I’m confident it will have a profound impact. Try it and you’ll see!

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” ~ Albert Einstein